This application claims a priority date of Apr. 22, 1999 based upon Application Number 1999-14462 in the Republic of Korea.
The present invention relates to a Brown gas heating furnace made of mineral stone, and more particularly to a heating furnace comprising a base for supporting a burner assembly for burning a brown gas, and a heating section consisted of stacked firebricks.
Generally, to implement a high capacity space heater, a carrier with a number of mineral stones being stacked thereon is heated in a fossil fuel powered industrial furnace to reach a temperature of between 700 to 800xc2x0 C. Once the mineral stones have reached this temperature, they are moved to the room that is to be heated. According to the method for heating the mineral stones stacked on the carrier, a great quantity of air must be supplied to a combustion chamber by means of a blower in order to burn the fossil fuels. This combustion process generates exhaust gas vented through a chimney in a volume that is as much as the quantity of combustion air that is fed into the combustion chamber. The loss of energy associated with the gas that is exhausted through the chimney is about 60%. Also, since liquefied petroleum gas is used to heat the stacked mineral stones, a great quantity of fuel is needed. Since the industrial furnace is large, a great amount of space is needed to install the furnace Furthermore, the liquefied petroleum gas is an explosive substance, and it is therefore unsuitable for use in a service office having a large number of occupants. The maximum amount of far infrared rays (having a wave length of 5.6 to 15 micro meter and being beneficial to the human body) radiates from the mineral stones at a temperature range of 300 to 400xc2x0 C. It is therefore not necessary to heat the mineral stones above that temperature. If the mineral stones are heated up to 700 to 800xc2x0 C., infrared rays and ultraviolet rays, as well as the above-noted beneficial far infrared rays, radiate from the mineral stones and this additional radiation is harmful to human body.
In addition, if the mineral stones stacked on the carrier drop below a desired temperature, the carrier must be moved to the industrial furnace to reheat the mineral stones.
Since the mineral stones have a lower melting point relative to other materials, the physical properties of the mineral stones may be changed due to the repeated heating, so that amount of the far infrared rays that are radiated may be reduced and the useful life of the mineral stones may be shortened.
Accordingly, the present Brown gas heating furnace made of mineral stone is directed to an apparatus for heating mineral stones by adopting a Brown gas as a fuel. This Brown gas heating furnace made of mineral stone substantially obviates the problems due to the limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
The brown gas has some special characteristics, such as no pollution, and complete combustion. The brown gas is a mixed gas of hydrogen and oxygen in a ratio of 2:1, so that smoke, soot, or the like are not generated during the combustion of the brown gas. Therefore, there is no needed of a chimney. Since the Brown gas can be burned in the closed space, a great amount of heat is accumulated inside the heating furnace and not lost through the venting of exhaust gases. An object of the present invention is to provide a Brown gas heating furnace made of mineral stone that can maintain a constant temperature with a small amount of fuel.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a brown gas heating furnace made of mineral stone. In accordance with this invention, the heating furnace comprising a hollow base, having at least one burner mounting hole formed at a top wall of the base, and a door mounted at a front side of the base uses at least one burner centrally mounted in the at least one burner mounting hole of the base to generate a flame to combust the Brown gas. The burners are connected via branch ducts to a supply duct that supplies brown gas to the at least one burner, and at least one valve respectively mounted on the at least one branch duct to regulate the flow of Brown gas. The Brown gas heating furnace made of mineral stone includes a heating section of firebricks stacked together in a staggered fashion on the top wall of the base while enclosing the at least one burner mounting hole. The furnace also includes a furnace section seated on the base and defining a combustion chamber surrounding the heating section while being uniformly spaced apart from the heating section the furnace section also has venting ports adapted to enable air flow between the combustion chamber and the atmosphere.